After Mr. Salveter and his wife, Betty, retired, he started exploring a planned giving vehicle that could provide them with immediate tax advantages in addition to a stream of income for the remainder of their lifetimes. This planned giving vehicle was called a charitable remainder unitrust (“CRUT”). What Mr. Salveter learned surprised him.

From the moment Robert Robson met Susanna Castillo, he was smitten. Their Stanford University dorm had gone co-ed in 1971. Robert was a chemistry major; Susie studied history and psychology and loved to talk about Russian history.

A couple who wishes to remain anonymous dedicated a heroic amount of time and money to help their beloved son, who was diagnosed with a mental illness called schizoid affective disorder. They talked extensively to leading investigators, trying hard to get answers.

As a young biochemist, Marvin Karasek, PhD, wanted to know if there was a connection between viruses and skin diseases. After he finished his postdoctoral studies in viral research in Germany, his work came to the attention of Arthur Kornberg, MD, chair of the Stanford Department of Biochemistry and winner of the 1959 Nobel Prize for illuminating how DNA is built.

In October 2013, Suzanne Pride Bryan presented SCI member Allison Kurian, MD, MSc, with a check for $50,000. The carefully considered donation enabled Kurian to acquire huge amounts of molecular and genomic data for her “Oncoshare” breast cancer data-sharing project.

What lies at autism’s core? Over the decades, theories have abounded—most of them relying on clinical observations rather than brain circuitry. Only recently have sophisticated technologies allowed researchers to begin closing the gap between the consulting room and the laboratory.

“When our granddaughter Lily was born,” says Mary Evslin, “she was tested for lots of things, including hearing. She flunked the hearing test. The hospital staff reassured her parents: ‘It happens all the time; take her to a pediatrician for a retest.’ She flunked again. Off they went to a pediatric hearing specialist, and she flunked again. We all got worried.”…